Senate Could Vote This Week on Casinos

The state Senate could vote this week on a much-shortened bill that would allow the state's two Indian tribes to build an additional casino in order to battle out-of-state competition.

The details of the casino proposal are contained in a working draft, obtained by The Courant on Monday. The draft is only three pages and 75 lines long - far shorter than most bills of major importance at the state Capitol and shorter than the original 16-page casino bill.

The 16-page version came out about two months ago and contained details of the mini-casinos that would be built jointly by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe and the Mohegan Tribe. Residents in towns such as East Hartford and East Windsor have been battling for the right to build a casino.

The new draft states that "any municipality'' statewide could seek a casino, and the draft sets up a process for how the two tribes would seek proposals from the towns that are interested in hosting a casino. It also refers to a "tribal business entity'' that refers to a casino that is jointly owned by the two tribes and registered to do business in Connecticut.

"A tribal business entity may issue a request for proposals to municipalities regarding the establishment of a possible casino gaming facility in a municipality,'' according to the draft. "The tribal business entity shall submit any such request for proposals to the Department of Consumer Protection. The department shall post such request for proposals on its Internet web site.''

While the competition would be open to all towns, under the draft, the tribes have been most concerned about competition from the $800 million MGM Resorts International casino that is expected to open just over the Massachusetts border in Springfield by Christmas 2017. As such, the tribes have been focused on the I-91 corridor in northern Connecticut as a possible casino site.

The draft continues, "A tribal business entity may not establish a casino gaming facility in the state until the General Assembly and the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs have approved the amendments'' of the compacts between the tribes and the state.

Lawmakers are keenly aware that the casino battle could end up in litigation at some point.

"If a court of competent jurisdiction holds any provision of this section unconstitutional,'' the draft states, "the remaining provisions of this section shall be inoperative and have no effect.''

Patty McQueen, a spokeswoman for the tribes, said on Monday night that "we are reviewing the draft language and continue to have productive conversations with legislators about how to best protect 9,300 jobs."

The money contributed to the state by the two tribes as part of a slot-machine revenue sharing deal has been falling steadily since reaching a peak of $430 million in the 2007 fiscal year. That total is projected to drop by more than half - to $189 million - in the 2018 fiscal year due to the opening of the Springfield casino and continuing competition from slot machines at Yonkers Raceway in Westchester County, N.Y. and Aqueduct racetrack in New York City.

The Connecticut bill, if passed by both chambers, would take effect immediately - meaning as soon as it is signed by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy.